* A minor point of argument among fans is exactly why the Maximals were so quick to stasis-lock Transmutate instead of transferring its spark to another body like Rhinox did with Optimus Primal following the latter's unintentional sacrifice. It was stated only that its core consciousness and body structure were mutilated beyond recovery; no mention was made about the condition of its spark. Of course, the euthanasia metaphor of the character's titular episode would fall apart if they did that, but hey, semantics.

* A minor point of argument among fans is exactly why the Maximals were so quick to stasis-lock Transmutate instead of transferring its spark to another body like Rhinox did with Optimus Primal following the latter's unintentional sacrifice. It was stated only that its core consciousness and body structure were mutilated beyond recovery; no mention was made about the condition of its spark. Of course, the euthanasia metaphor of the character's titular episode would fall apart if they did that, but hey, semantics.

** It is possible that they didn't have any available, and they may have planned to do so when they could, but [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] was to angry to understand that, and wouldn't listen.

** It is possible that they didn't have any available, and they may have planned to do so when they could, but [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] was to angry to understand that, and wouldn't listen.

Transmutate is a mutant Transformer, partially Transmetal, born from a heavily-damaged stasis pod (likely due to it landing in the seismically-unstable Grid Deltron). The creature possesses very little intelligence and is utterly innocent in personality, curious and childlike.

However, it also contains inconceivable destructive power (i.e. super-sonic screams and somewhat strong force fields) to boot, making it extremely dangerous to keep unsupervised and uncontained. Though it has no alternate form or beast mode, it does have the ability to fly.

Contents

Fiction

Beast Wars

Both factions considered Transmutate to be too dangerous to recruit. Megatron decided to have it destroyed as without enough intelligence or an alternate. It was useless to him, while Primal felt that it was a danger to itself as well as those around it and suggested putting it into Stasis Lock, presumably until a solution could be found. This caused considerable concern for both Silverbolt and Rampage. Silverbolt felt it was a Maximal's duty to protect all sentient life, and Rampage simply found a kindred spirit in Transmutate's tortured existence.

Transmutate managed to befriend both Transformers, which caused some friction between them. Eventually, they came to blows. Transmutate sacrificed itself in order to prevent the two Transformers from killing each other, deeply grieving Rampage and Silverbolt regretting that he was unable to save it. Transmutate

Toys

Beast Wars

Transmutate was never sold as an individual toy. Rather, it was only available with the first two waves of Beast Wars 10th Anniversary toys in 2006; each of the first six releases had a part to "Trans-Mutate" packaged with it. All six parts combined to form a non-transformable figure with limited articulation... but the simple fact that an official figure of a one-episode show character got made is itself an extraordinary occurrence.

Notes

A minor point of argument among fans is exactly why the Maximals were so quick to stasis-lock Transmutate instead of transferring its spark to another body like Rhinox did with Optimus Primal following the latter's unintentional sacrifice. It was stated only that its core consciousness and body structure were mutilated beyond recovery; no mention was made about the condition of its spark. Of course, the euthanasia metaphor of the character's titular episode would fall apart if they did that, but hey, semantics.

It is possible that they didn't have any available, and they may have planned to do so when they could, but Silverbolt was to angry to understand that, and wouldn't listen.

In regard to the previous bit of trivia, the script for this episode explicitly states that Transmutate's spark was unstable: "Energy ERUPTS throughout Its body as Its own unstable spark begins to tear It apart." Although stage direction and narration from scripts are only pseudocanon, this may nonetheless satisfy some fans that the spark was indeed as damaged as the body. The script, like many Beast Wars scripts, can be found on BWTF.com.

Also from the episode script comes this character description in the cast listing section: TRANSMUTATE: a being with no beauty of form nor logic of shape, massive, made of unmatched parts: bits of Predacon, pieces of Maximal, chunks of Fuzor and Transmetal, heavy-duty weapons, and a face that vaguely indicates it is female. This wording lends some credence to the fan notion that Transmutate was originally a female Protoform. However, Transmutate is consistently referred to within the script using genderless pronouns, confusing the issue.

According to Ben Yee on Madman Entertainment's Beast Wars Season 2 DVD commentaries, Hasbro attempted to replicate Transmutate's sonic scream attacks first as a spring-loaded projectile, then as a static decoration. Fortunately for the sake of good taste, they abandoned those plans.

Transmutate's face is friggin' creepy. Look at it. Just look at it.

Notably Transmutate is one of the only, if not the only creature ever able to inspire kindness or affection from Rampage who befriended it, defended it before Megatron and vowed to protect it. Transmutate seemed to some degree realize that Rampage has darkness within him calling him "Friend Dark", but this could suggest that it recognized to some degree that Rampage was not evil so much as totally alone and isolated, lashing out at a world that will not accept him.